Aphid control: drastic pruning, where to cut?
Taken in three sad pepper plants.
only natural light via eastern window since they came in for winter.
inconsistent watering
likely some nutrient deficiencies
and a hefty case of aphids
supposedly past attempts at eradication using a pepper/garlic/soap mixture after rinsing with a showerhead were relatively successful, but failure to keep up with treatments allowed them to resurge, eventually leading to declaration of defeat shortly before the holidays, and they've been ignored since.
I'm a bit more stubborn, so the (now quite dehydrated) pots went straight to the showers for an aggressive rinsing and removal of the dead leaves.
Less than 24 hours later, and the little buggers are back with a vengeance, in better health than before!
while I'd live to play cat and mouse and resume spraying every other day (eh, not really!), I'm leaving the country in less than three weeks and can't expect the house-sitter to continue the routine for the two weeks I'm gone.
plan is to trim all the worst infested (primarily new) growth and do daily showers and spraying with a soapy MG mixture seasoned with garlic oil and powdered hot pepper for good measure. Low fan at all times for circulation and to dry foliage.
after a week, stop treatments, and see if / how quickly the population recovers, which I suspect it will.
so, I'm considering an alternate route: Drastic pruning, and repotting with fresh potting soil.
I've seen some aggressive cut backs by folks making bonsai peppers (bonchi a la fatalii) and would like some advice on where would be the best places for pruning cuts should I have to go this route.
thanks!
- K
Comments (15)
kamereone
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Curled leaves on my drastically pruned Apple Tree?!?
Comments (5)Looks like you have aphids. Do a google search for: aphids control. Or search this site. I can't tell how big your tree is. If you can reach them with a hose, many people just spray them off with a strong spray of water. You can also use an insecticidal soap mixed with water which will suffocate them. They are quite delicate and have a number of predators. In small numbers they won't do any serious damage but they propagate quickly. They like young succulant growth which the drastic pruning and spring combine to make. If you look closely you may notice small shiny drops of clear sweet liquid on the leaves, ground, or whatever is beneath them. They suck juices from the tree and excrete that "honeydew". Ants like it and can be found fostering them....See MoreDrastic pruning?
Comments (15)Please don't take it wrong. Mentha - I'm not being overly critical about what you said, but I'd like to reflect a little on how we can use defoliation and cutting back hard as a tool for managing our houseplants. First, I'll take a second to make the case that this would best be done midway between the big spring growth push and summer solstice. To defoliate before that means the plant will essentially rely on little sun, and what meager energy reserves it has left to push the new flush of growth. This will severely tax the plant and its recovery will be much longer than necessary. It we wait too long, (well into July) the plant will be reluctant to produce foliage. Plants, except winter growers, begin to store energy after day length begins decreasing instead of increasing. IOW, plants have just made the transition from wanting to make leaves and extend stems, to wanting to lay down layers of cells rich in carbohydrates in the roots and cambium. The plant is growing fatter now and is beginning to forget about adding foliage. Defoliation, partial defoliation, and cutting back hard all stimulate lots of branching in your plants. We use partial defoliation to stimulate branching in specific parts of the plant, or to slow growth in certain areas. Complete defoliation affects the entire plant, as does chopping back the trunk. (what a genius - right?) ;o) Most of the auxin in plants, which is the growth hormone that suppresses branching, is produced in the apex (tip) of the branch, but auxin is also a byproduct photosynthesis and is produced in leaves. When you remove either leaves or the apices (tips) of the branches, you get the same effect - a reduction in the hormone that suppresses lateral growth, which causes new leaves and branches to occur (the hormone reduction does this). The difference between the two, is that when you cut back hard and remove the apex, the branch can no longer extend - EVER. Another branch behind the pruning cut can take over and become the new apex, but the branch you cut back is done extending. This is how we do 'directional pruning'. If you want the branch to grow up, down, right, left, cut it back to a bud or leaf axil that faces the way you want the branch to grow. When the new branch emerges, it will be predisposed to grow in that direction. I just described how you can take a branch and cut it back so you can direct the direction of its growth, but you can also do this with the trunks of your vines & plants that get woody. Actually, you can do it with almost all dicots. If you have a schefflera or Ficus or philo that is too tall & gangly. CUT IT BACK. ;o) If you have a branch that is showing it wants to grow more toward the vertical, don't be afraid to cut the plant back to just above that branch. You can easily maintain the height of your plants by regularly cutting them back and training an emerging branch to vertical as the new leader. We should all learn these techniques and put another tool in our box. The reason for my saying that, is because most of the plants we grow tend to be apically dominant. That means that, as a survival strategy (in the wild) they are genetically programmed to concentrate growth at the tips of branches and top of the plant. If we don't learn to work with the plant to correct that tendency, we can end up with some plants that are less than attractive. I hope that you, Bobyoe, and others, find the comments useful. Al...See MoreDrastic prune Azaleas ?
Comments (51)I've been reading this thread....and I fear the worst :( Yesterday ( July 29, 2012 ) in a frenzy, I literally almost cut down an azalea bush that has been on our property for over 40 years. The thing was over seven feet tall and just taking over the walkway to our back door. I started what I thought was pruning (without doing ANY research on the subject) and began cutting away branch after branch. The leaves were only on the very outside of the bush, about three inches deep, but I wanted to trim the whole bush by about two feet. So even when I cut a little bit, all that was left were bare, gnarly branches. Now the thing looks bald and half dead. The tippy top is still covered in leaves, so hopefully those young buds will bloom next year, but what about the rest? I'm afraid I may have killed it. My family is gonna kill me :( I will take a picture and upload. Any support or encouragement will be welcomed. Sincerely, The Bush Killer....See MoreDRASTIC Rhody pruning
Comments (2)Maybe, maybe not. Well established plants in the wild are frequently cut back like this. However, this will place a heavy stress on the plant and there is a possibility you will loose it.. If you cut the woody part back to about half the height you want the plant, but leave at least some green leaves, then the plant will sprout new growth from the woody part. When that has established itself, then you can remove all the old growth above the height you want. This less drastic approach will have a higher success rate. Here is a link that might be useful: How to care for rhododendrons...See More
isgen
7 years agoYeah, pepper plants are fairly hard to kill. I trimmed a Scotch Bonnet back to a single stick-stem in early spring and it sprouted back to the same size as my other more-modestly trimmed SB and produced as much in the end, albeit a bit later.
Here's what I'm talking about, this year's roster:
kamereone thanked isgenkamereone
7 years agoisgen
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agokamereone, you're welcome!
Branches should be trimmed above nodes as far as I can tell. They are a point where new shoots may grow out. Cutting below a node would just leave a dead branch all the way down to the next node, no real harm, but useless. You can see it in my picture, especially on the two larger Rocotos on the left, where I leave about 1/8"-1/4" of the y-split branches I'm trimming.
That above picture was taken sometimes last fall, here's one of these Rocotos about 3 weeks ago. It has gotten even larger since, only on natural light from the east-facing patio door, but then again, Rocotos do well with little light. My Scotch Bonnet was somewhat sorry-looking all winter long in that same spot last year.
kamereone
7 years agode-foliage-ation complete! I was surprised to see all three were already shooting out new growth on the tips and sprouts at EVERY joint that I didn't notice / wasn't there when I started this thread. Kinda felt bad trimming it! Should I let the tiny stuff get big enough to remove before dunking? I know aphids like the young stuff and unfurled leaves would be a good hiding place...
Second question, this bigger guy doesn't have a well defined Y and is woody all the way up to the second ring of the support cage. The lower branches aren't true Y splits but sprouts from trimmed leaf scars. Where do you suggest I trim him back to?
kamereone
7 years agoEveryone is out of their pots, soil wasn't bad at all, but man bad hair days all around. Lots of U-turns to cut out, and little Jiffy grow pod things to work around; gave up and left them there. Decompose, yeah, right! And the big one... I'm pretty sure its stem is tied in a knot somehow. Definitely some strangler issues but I can't get past the darn peat pod thing to tell for sure.
here are some better shots of the branching now they're out of the pots. Would love some feedback on any additional cuts to make. :)
subject A upper branches
subject b
and our ugly knobby duckling, subject Ckamereone
7 years agoTwo months later, the year-old hungarian yellow wax pair are quite happy looking, leafing out and sprouting along the lower stem:
Removed several bud clusters from the second one, overachiever!Unfortunately the two-year-old habanero doesn't look like it's gonna make it. Wasn't looking healthy beneath the aphids before, and since the bathing repotting and pruning, hasn't shown signs of resprouting and it looking a bit dessicated in the upper branches.
Thinking its time to knock it out of the pot and see how the roots look.
Thanks for everyone's help with this, not an aphid to be seen!
the_northeast_chileman
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agokamereone
7 years ago
kamereone
7 years agowillardb3
7 years ago
isgen